It was a perfect capper to my Sunday that I couldn't even comment on my own site.  The fact that Jay Cutler broke his thumb during Cason's interception return is also a perfect summation of the Chargers.  Cutler shredded the Bolts, but the rest of the AFC West will get to face the Bears without their starting quarterback.  But, as Tom Twomey reminded me, it doesn't matter what other teams do.  We can't beat anybody right now. Kevin Acee was just on NFL Network saying "It will take a miracle turnaround for Norv Turner to be the coach beyond this year."  You can see the interview here.  Here was Acee on XX1090.  You can can even read about the last time we thought it was the end for Norv here.  So I guess I'll be thinking about that when I foolishly root for this team.  During yesterday's game, Josh Lewin said "Roy Williams, where's he been?"

The answer: Not playing the Chargers.

This team, this organization is a complete mess.  Shaun Phillips was even on Twitter bitching about fans who are rightfully criticizing the team. 

To all the fake fans suck it cause talking ish won't get us anywhere. How's your perfect life my point exactly.

Remember how Phillips got all pissy when asked at the charity bowling event about his head butt in the playoffs?  I won't spend too much time on this, but being angry about a team that can't win is hardly "talking shit."  I would assume that all the empty boasting and celebrating that guys like Phillips have done constitutes "talking shit."  Hey, the guy is a first-class talent.  Since Steve Foley's shooting, he's been a star.  But his leadership skills certainly have been a question.  The same goes for Vincent Jackson.  He's a hell of a player.  But he's hardly been an exemplary team player.  He clams up after disappearing against Oakland and "not expecting the ball" at the end.  Apparently Mathews pulled the same shit after yesterday's game.  I guess I can't fault Norv for not trusting Mathews this time.  Mathews' head is all fucked up and I can't imagine what's going on in Rivers' brain right now.  I guess the next coach will have to deal with it.  Of course, with our history of hires I could see the Chargers finding some third Harbaugh brother who can't inspire or make in-game decisions.

Peter King, who actually picked the Chargers to reach the Super Bowl with Rivers AS LEAGUE MVP, picked us to lose by 20.  He wasn't that far off, although he also thought we'd beat Green Bay.  Today he wrote:

I think I can't fathom how the Chargers don't change the coach or GM if they continue to fade into oblivion. I know Norv Turner is signed through 2013 and A.J. Smith through 2014, but how does Dean Spanos make no changes on a team with such great expectations? The Chargers are 13-13 since opening day 2010. Sometimes, with the weight of expectations, it feels more like 3-23.

Yeah, I think he's a bit of a windbag as well.  Don Banks' SI piece did a better job of summing up our pain.  One more loss will put this team out of its misery?  It's hard not to hope for that at this point.  However, I'll still root for a win.  That seems to be the best way to ensure a loss, anyway.  My daughter Sarah came into our bedroom during the end of the game yesterday.  I turned the game off after Norv blew two timeouts to challenge a play.  I didn't even see Lovie Smith, who's a little Norv like, call a fake punt.  But I also missed Rivers throwing a pick while trying to throw the ball away, yet another moment that sums it all up.  Some people would argue that this season is an aberration .  Sadly, I think it sums up our "good but not good enough" journey of the previous 7.  If we deluded ourselves by thinking that it was only Steve Crosby that kept us out of the playoffs, we now know better.  I know Tom Twomey calls guys like Phillips and Jackson members of "Team Cancer." I told him to be careful when using that name--people will think we are having a fund run or something.  "Stand Up To Team Cancer!"

I seriously don't know how Rivers will rebound from this year.  I've always loved the guy, but...Then again, Alex Smith is reborn under Captain Comeback.  But Smith was never a perennial All-Pro as Rivers has been.  My 5-year old daughter said it best yesterday when I told her that the Chargers were going to lose yet again.  "They always lose.  They're boring!"

Of course, she had to explain that after telling me that a team called the Bears seemed like a better club to back.  

In a week where Arrested Development officially returned to the air and Bruce Springsteen finally announced a return to touring, the Chargers continued to put the perfect cherry on the shit sundae that has been getting close but not finishing. 

I'll talk to you before Turkey Day, although I don't think this week deserves an official "preview post."

RLW

Yeah, I know that this week's game has very little to do with that dour fuck of a quarterback, but I thought it would be a nice way to lead things off.  Cutler has been pretty well protected and hasn't had make too many risky throws this season.  Sound familiar?  I didn't think so.  By the way, I can't take credit for the Norv pic.  It was someone's avatar on the U-T forums.  But I thought it was worth sharing.  You know what's truly frightening, FAITHFUL READER?  My anger with this team is slowly dissipating into acceptance.  Like many of you, I am trying to view each week these days as a "win-win" scenario.  If we win, there's hope to stay afloat in this shitty division.  If not, Norval and Co. may be that much closer to the door.  Actually, I have to credit someone else for that philosophy as well.  My wife has suggested I adopt it, so as not to allow the Chargers fuck up our lives any more than they already do.

There comes a moment when you see your team defying the odds that reminds you why you became a fan.  You might not have seen anything that whole season to make you believe they could upset a superior opponent when it matters most, but when you realize "holy shit, they might actually do it" it's amazing.  The Knicks of the mid 1990s used to shave their heads and wear black shoes just for the playoffs.  The Chargers of 1994 started 6-0, but they didn't beat anyone good enough to make people believe they could really go on a run in the playoffs.  Yeah, they came back and beat Pittsburgh 37-34 to finish on a 5-5 string and get a first round bye.  But the Steelers rested all their stars since they had locked up the #1 seed.  Remember how they destroyed Cleveland in the first round?  No one gave the Chargers a chance.

I did.  I bought a game ticket, plane ticket, bottle of Jagermesiter and six pack or Iron City and the rest was history.  I know that both Jets and Giants fans have experienced that feeling of watching their team rise above the odds on a big stage over the last few seasons.  Obviously, it was more prevalent in Giants fans since their team won it all in '07.  I had that feeling about the Chargers that year and even felt ok once they lost at Foxboro.  But the Giants took whatever consolation/satisfaction away when they upset the same team we lost to. 

In a season where it seems that something crazy happens each week, you'd think it would be the Chargers' turn to surprise people in a good way.  How many times have we played teams (or watched others play teams) who desperately needed a win.  Those teams simply wanted it more.  It's been a long time since we've seen the Bolts play that way.  Honestly, I would rather see them get blown out then follow their formula of fall behind, fight back and NOT MAKE THE PLAYS TO WIN.

Peter King, who actually picked the Chargers to win, 30-26 on Sunday, wrote on Tuesday about reasons they are in trouble

Here are the five things that worry me about the Chargers in the wake of their second straight late collapse, the 23-20 overtime loss at Kansas City on Monday night:
1. It continues to always be something with this team. Too often, when the games are big (and you have to consider Monday's game a big one -- in the division, with a loss making it a three-way tie instead of distancing the Chargers from the pack), something weird happens. And it's never good weird. Either Nate Kaeding is missing three makeable field goals, or clock management is at a third-grade level, or, this year, end-of-game execution is poor. Too many of the same mistakes, made way too often. That's the sign of a team that'll never win a championship.
2. Philip Rivers' mistakes and mobility. He leads all NFL players with 14 turnovers. One of his picks was a tip job Monday night, and those are simply fluky. But he had an easy pick in the first half dropped by Brandon Flowers, which would have given him three on the night, and his fumble that lost the game in the final minute was absolutely inexcusable. It's a Miracle-of-the-Meadowlands turnover, a clear game-loser. His only job on that play is to collect the snap and make sure no one fumbles, and give Nick Novak a 32-yard chippy to win the game. And he fumbled. Regarding the mobility: Lots of quarterbacks make plays on the move. That's the weakness of Rivers' game. I thought the Chiefs exploited that with flush-rushes Monday night.
3. Left tackle Marcus McNeill. Are you kidding me? Six penalties for a veteran left tackle? Three false starts? McNeill played like he'd never played in a loud stadium before. His six infractions left the Chargers trying to convert on first-and-15, first-and-15, second-and-23, first-and-15, second-and-12 and second-and-20. All night, McNeill dug holes for his quarterback to have to get out of.
4. Giving the Chiefs life. San Diego could have buried the Chiefs Monday night. A season-series sweep (after a Week 3 win in San Diego) would have put the Chiefs down by 2.5 games, in effect, in the West with 10 to play -- including the Patriots, Jets and Bears on the road, and Green Bay at home. Instead of building the 2.5-game lead, the Chargers and Chiefs are in a dead tie with 10 to play.
5. Norv Turner's ability to pull the Chargers out of the rut. That'll be tested now, because the world will come down on the Chargers. The Chargers have played the first half of the season much like Turner's career coaching record: 107-112-1. Green Bay comes to town this week, followed by Oakland on a short week. Turner's going to have to coach memory erasure this week. Can he do it? We'll see.

Norv haters, you might get your wish.  I don't see them recovering.

After hearing the prerequisite "we won't fumble the snap" jokes on Sirius, I hear Tim Ryan talk about when he was at USC, Rodney Peete did the same thing in the Rose Bowl 2 years in a row.  Did not make me feel better.  Then he wondered why we don't run more when it is clear that KC is using so many guys on Gates.  No answer there.  Norv can't call plays OR inspire guys?  Wow, sign me up.  Ryan also wondered why there was no fire when Hardwick was thrown to the ground on the fumble.  Again, looks to be a coaching problem.  I finally heard the Josh Lewin play by play of the fumble--I had music on at the time while watching.  They mentioned that fireworks went off as Rivers fumbled.  I am surpirsed we didn't blame that.  This post on the Chargers Message Board really hit home:

There have been some all time lows for me as a Charger fan. When we lost to the Patriots in 2006 and to the Jets in 2009 to name a few. But out of all of the games I have seen this team lose, I truly think this one hurts the most. I really am at a loss for words. There is no team in the NFL that beats themselves like the Chargers. Week in week out, year in year out. This team constantly shoots themselves in the foot. Sometimes I think it's unreal how these things keep happening to us but now I have just come to realize that it always happens. Always. It shouldn't even surprise me anymore. I should just expect it.

I am 23 years old, I starting watching the Chargers in 2004. I was new to football. I am extremely loyal to all my teams in every sport that I watch and will never change teams no matter how bad losses like these hurt. I will always be a Charger fan for life.

However, for the first time in my 7 years as a fan, I am refusing to watch next weeks game. The loss to New York hurt so bad and this on top of it just kills me. Like I said I will always be a Charger fan for life, but I refuse to watch this team play next week. I will not watch next weeks game.

I don't think I've ever been this mad in my entire life.

I know that you need to separate and let someone hit rock bottom before they can change, but I don't know what rock bottom is.  They always find a new low.

How do you choke away a game in which you never led for even a single play?  The Chargers found a way.  They have found a way to lose once again.  How many times does this team need to be “humbled?”  The fans don’t deserve it.  I can’t get them to stand up to the opposition, but I can stand up to this team.  I will watch and report (and come out and say that I think this team is going nowhere fast), but I won’t believe.  I don’t know if I have JIC because I know I will always tune in or if I now tune in because I have the site.  It doesn’t matter.  Something changed for me after that last playoff loss.  Sadly, it didn’t change in them.  Rivers has his best half of football and actually uses his legs to make 2 big throws, but…The defense stops the Queefs and 3^rd and short, but… I know Acee has been mentioning the “buts” in those post-game videos.  However, that’s what defines this team.  There is always a “but.”

I threw away my mini Philip Rivers McFarlane figure during the game but pledged to take it out of the trash if they won.  Nick Canepa said of Ryan Mathews a few weeks back “either he’s the guy or he’s not.”  Right now, it appears that he’s not.  That goes for the whole team.  They’re not…winners.  I guess this is what people say about those with addictions.  They need to bottom out, no matter how much you want to stop them.  The thing is, you would have thought they would have bottomed out by now.  I guess not.  If games like last night get us going upward quicker because people will get canned, so be it.

When Armani Toomer is thanking the Giants for trading Rivers, you know it's bad.  He has a ring with the guy Rivers was swapped for, but I wonder if he felt that way when Rivers led the Chargers back in NJ in 2009.

This pic comes from the site Straight Cash Homey Dot Net.  I gotta say, looks like a pretty genius page.  Anyway, I've vented every day this week about the Chargers.  I am sure you saw the Sports Illustrated piece from this week on the Bolts.  This was my response:

Sorry, Damon.  Only we can do that to our pledges.  No one is more frustrated with the January flameouts than Charger fans.  But this week's article was nothing more than you hopping on the NY tabloids (and SD papers) to run with a theme.  The Bolts need to prove themselves against physical teams, but coming East isn't the problem.  As you pointed out, they lost 2 first round games (coming off 14 and 13 win seasons) in their own stadium.  But let's not throw the '07 and '08 teams in there.  I don't remember SI calling the loss at New England another SD failure.  That's because you guys were falling all over yourselves to praise the Patriots at the time.  And weren't you referring to the Chargers (on one of your 4 regional covers) as "dangerous" after they upset a team with  4 more regular season wins then them?  You remember, that game was also without LaDainian Tomlinson.  Let's not act like LT had anything to do with what happened against the Jets because he didn't.  If the Chargers don't roll over, my screen saver is the photo of him in the hat and towel like that bald girl from the Thompson Twins.  It was appropriate that you included the week's covers of the NY papers since you essentially bit off of them anyway.  You have every right to doubt the Chargers for not "bolting up."  But don't revise your magazine's position on the matter to justify it.  I know you guys have gone easy on a team that has underachieved more than once.  It hurts to predict a team will win big and have them fall short.  Imagine you were a fan of that team.  At least you had the decency to have someone with the last name "Hack" write the article.

Ross Warner
www.justiceiscoming.com
South Setauket, NY 11720

Look, someone had to take a stand.  The team certainly isn't doing it right now.  Personally, I think they will win tomorrow night.  But that's just allowing myself to have Halloween ruined.  I know no one thought St. Louis could beat the Saints a week after they scored 62 points.  Baltimore almost got upset for a second straight week.  But the one constant seems to be us playing "down to the competition."  Oh wait, I'm starting to sound like that SI article.  Seeing Pittsburgh dismantle the Pats reminds me of how much we are lacking right now.  AJ couldn't even muster up another "soft and embarrassing" criticism?  Anyway, talk to you tomorrow.

BTFU,

RLW

I never quote Yahoo! sports pieces, but I felt compelled to link this one.  It was written after the end of last year's regular season.  You remember, right after the game in Cincy where Rivers threw that costly pick to end the 3rd quarter and Antoine Cason let his man blow right by him?  Thank God those days are over.  Anyway, the article suggests not-so-subtly that Norv and AJ appear to be beyond accountability.  Yesterday, in the instant CBS showed Dean Spanos and LT on the sideline in a hat and towel, I  hoped that the Bolts could win the game for all the long-suffering fans.  I especially wanted the win for all those poor bastards at the game.  You know what happened next.

In a week where people actually SIDED with Norv Turner beforehand, he found a way to squander that goodwill.  My buddy Brooklyn Mike, a long time Jet fan, summed it up aptly in his email to me today:

Yeah, I think both teams are mediocre at best; the difference is Turner got outcoached again.  They came out for the second half and didn’t even try to run more on the Jets.  The Jets just flooded the middle of the field and took away what Rivers likes to do – at that point Turner has to make an adjustment, but of course he is not capable of making those adjustments, he is the worst coach in football.  Teams have been running over the Jets and David Harris (best run stopper) was out for most of the second half.  I totally understand your frustration, Turner must, must be fired.

When I wrote last week: "Sanchez and Burress can't get on the same page?  It would be just like the Bolts to have that happen against them," I was just suggesting that the Bolts bring out the best in other team's players.  Mike's points are all valid.  He'd like to say that it's just the Jets' effect on the Chargers but he and I agree that it is much bigger than that.  I understand what McMichael was saying but you come off like a sore loser when you say the other team had nothing to do with the outcome.  I wrote on Twitter after the game that losers look for calls.  Jammer should know to turn around.  The biggest crime of the week was that the Chargers let Rex Ryan beat them AND quote Anchorman back to them.  I might live in New York, but if San Diegans can't lay claim to Ron Burgundy then there's not much left.  I know Mathews and Tolbert were hurt AGAIN, which is concerning in itself.  By the way, would Jordan Todman have at least helped with a called screen somewhere?  But people talk about Norv's offensive genius when asked about his apparent inability to inspire.  But Mike's point was the same one Late Night writer and Charger fan extraordinare Eric Stangel made about not taking advantage of the Jets' troubles stopping the run.  It didn't have to be Rex Ryan, but it seems that ANYONE other than Norv could have gotten more out of this group.  Cason looked like Cro and Cro looked better than when he left San Diego.  Rivers is good enough to have won a ring with someone, just not apparently the Chargers.  If he really is hurt, by the way, I think he should sit.  I know not everyone agrees with me on that.  I heard Darren Smith on xx1090 today make a good point after he returned from New Orleans for the Sunday Night game.  He mentioned that the Saints have a killer instinct which comes from their coach.  They want to win for him, especially when he gets hurt on the sideline.  If the Bolts ever wanted to perform in defense of Norv, yesterday was their time.  The aforementioned moment right before the first pick are the type of moments that decide games and seasons.  It's why we watch the games.  If the Bolts fail in those, then his is all for nothing.  When people refer to choking, they don't mean that we have games in hand but that we always come up short in those spots.  I don't think the Jets sat in the locker room and said don't panic because the Chargers will melt down, but they must love to play us.  We unraveled in New England and we unraveled yesterday.  Even this photo of my son sent by my own dad this morning didn't completely pull me out of my funk.

Kansas City has won 3 straight even with all their injuries.  I have no idea what will happen on Monday Night and I'm not looking forward to it.  After the first Donald Butler TD, my wife asked me why I seemed so angry.  First off, I thought it would somehow get called back.  By the way, why didn't Norv challenge the spot when Sanchez clearly was stopped on 3rd?  Anyway, I don't care about Butler and Martin doing the LT flip.  Charger fans needed this game.  LT has done more than us since he left.  As I said when Jackson did it against Miami, no one cared when Shonn Greene did it against us.  Why? No one cares when you win.  The same Plaxico who scored 3 touchdowns against Cason predicted that the Giants would hold the Pats to very few points in the Super Bowl and went on to fall in the tub.  But he caught the winning TD in the Super Bowl.  Santonio Holmes, who caught the winning TD the next year, was sulking on the sidelines yesterday.  He's one of their captains, but it seems that our problems are always worse than the opposition's.  If you really wanted it to stick it to LT you should put his team at 3-4 by not unraveling again.

I heard the guys on ESPN say the Chargers could beat the Packers in a few weeks.  We beat the Colts at 13-0 and it didn't mean a thing.  For us to go out and do the bidding of all underdog supporters and continue to go nowhere is worthless.  As I said, I don't know what to expect in Kansas City.  It's not that we lost, but how we lost.  Against New England, the players questioned the passive approach of Manusky.  Since the Jets tried to get Antwan Barnes, I figured the reason Rex Ryan was talking to him after the game was to recruit him for next year.  With games like these, no needs to recruit to get someone out of San Diego.  McMichael was indirectly speaking about our coach.  When Darren Sproles said what every former player does, which is that they practice much harder elsewhere, it's also an indictment of Norv.  Of course, when Marty keeps hanging around the Jet locker room with a green and white hat on, he forgets that the UFL is the only place he's won a title.  I never thought he'd do that, but I digress.  Talk to you later in the week.  I still feel sick.

RLW

Since I moved from Manhattan in 2005, I don’t mention as often as I used to my unique perspective of being a Charger fan who has lived his entire life in the state of New York.  In 2002, I wrote a little about it here.  After reading that post, I was immediately transported back to that first game following a bye and a 6-1 start.  Bobby Ross and Stan Humphries were getting inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame, the throwback uniforms were being broken out and the Bolts promptly got blown out by Lamont Jordan and the Jets.  The Jets went on to the playoffs that year and the Chargers went into the toilet.  Of course, the story doesn't end there.  Looking back on that first playoff loss in 2004, I was struck by how slim the margin for error is in the playoff and how many mistakes we made.  You can see Jammer inches away from breaking up the touchdown pass to Santana Moss that put the Jets ahead for good.  Marty wanders onto the field, two CONSECUTIVE plays with 10 players on the field, and they needed an Eric Barton late hit to even get a shot at tying it up.

The second playoff loss was even worse because it seemed like the Chargers would have learned their lesson  .Look at those quotes, it’s clear the Bolts thought they’d at least make it to the AFC championship in Indy.  Did they take the Jets lightly?  They’d never admit it, but Bart Scott claimed they (Phillips probably) were yelling before kickoff that they didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs after needing the Colts to pull the plug on their quest for an undefeated season to do so.  Talk only matters when you back it up.  The Jets were mocking LT’s video and performance and couldn’t get enough of him last year.  I doubt when they saw Cromartie in that game that they knew they’d be lining up alongside him the following year.  Stephen Cooper mentioned that it “brought back memories” and Merriman referred to a lack of discipline.  The Bolts followed up that shocker by missing the playoffs entirely.

Thanks to my good buddy Bam Bam for help putting together the attached photo which you can download in preparation for next week's game.  I already distributed it via Twitter and will post it again next week.  Yeah, I think it's that important.  But we'll talk about the next game next issue.  I've still got a lot to say about the last one.  It really is as if the football gods finally decided "Look, we heard your complaints last year about the Chargers not getting out of September without a handful of losses, especially to 'lesser' opponents.  So here's what we'll do--you will win every one of those games you are expected to but you will look as bad as humanly possible while doing so.  You'll come out of the month with a good record but you won't get to enjoy a single second of it along the way.  You'll be left with as little confidence as humanly possible that your team will beat a quality opponent the rest of the way."

I guess we can all live with that.  The Chargers themselves appear to know that they can't get away with the sloppiness that's plauged them thus far.  At this point I am seriously concerned about the play of Philip Rivers.  As much as everyone wants to point to the fact that he was throwing to nobodys last year and put up great numbers, they seem to forget that he made some key mistakes which led to those losses.  We all remember him complaining to the refs while the Traitors were scooping up the ball en route to the winning touchdown.  Again, everyone pointed to the special teams as the reason we lost that game, but we still pulled ahead.  We just couldn't make a stop or avoid turning it over in the red zone.  To his credit, Rivers has moved better than ever before.  It had gotten to the point that even when it looked like he could run for a first down defenses never had to worry about him taking off.  Now they need to think twice.  It should open things up a bit.

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Sorry I couldn't add much more to last week's post besides my interview with Marty Caswell.  There were even some topics that got left on the cutting room floor.  I asked about Ryan Mathews, who seemed like he was ready to take over the game at New England before Tolbert's fumble.  You remember, FAITHFUL READER.  You could see Mathews pushing defenders backwards while his legs kept moving.  Then Norval decided to go with his "safe" back, who promptly fumbled the game away.  Marty did confirm that Norv is raving more and more about Mathews, who obviously got off on the wrong foot this year.  But last week it was obvious to all that every time Mathews would make a big gain and leave the Bolts with 3rd and short that Norv's balls would crawl back into his body and he would send Tolbert or Hester in.  OK, I admit that I was calling for the draw (that went to Tolbert a couple of seasons ago) as a solution to our short-yardage woes.  He ran it to Hester last week and it clearly wasn't the answer.  But when Hank Bauer was calling for a Charger to fly over the top after that fourth down in Foxboro, I highly doubt that Mike Tolbert was the guy he had in mind.  I am sure a few of you saw my Tweets concerning the ludicrousness of Turner's call last week.  Yeah, it was a touchdown.  But Tolbert's "fumble" was just a reminder that Mathews is clearly the "safer" call at this point.  His upside is obvious.  It was his 3rd down run that iced the game against Miami.  Now if only Norv could actually let him do it earlier in the game instead of running guys who clearly cannot get those yards when the defense knows what's coming.